Spain awards first eGaming licences

Spain has awarded its first set of online gaming licenses to operators including PokerStars, bwin.party, William Hill, Jaxx Ag, 888 Holdings and Sportingbet.

Spain has awarded its first set of online gaming licenses to operators including PokerStars, bwin.party, William Hill, Jaxx Ag, 888 Holdings and Sportingbet.

59 companies had applied for Spanish online gambling licences with officials in the nation hoping that the attached 25 percent gross gaming revenue tax will help the cash-strapped country rein in its spiralling deficit.

Spain has raised approximately $87 million in back taxes from online gambling operators over recent weeks including Sportingbet, bwin.party and 888 while the nation’s Treasury Department revealed that it was currently in the process of informing successful candidates but would not make the full list public later this week.

"We are happy to confirm that PokerStars was today granted a license to operate in Spain and we plan to launch www.PokerStars.es on June 5th. For now, Spanish players can continue to compete on www.PokerStars.com as normal and don’t need to take any action." read a statement from PokerStars.

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